Money down the toilet at Delaware Water Gap park

Seems no matter how many times the National Park Service jiggles the handle, the Taj Mahal toilet will not be flushed from the memory of local citizens.

Seems no matter how many times the National Park Service jiggles the handle, the Taj Mahal toilet will not be flushed from the memory of local citizens.

The swank tinkeltorium came up this week during a meeting between canoe livery owners and John Donahue, superintendent of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

They were discussing the park's plan to close two river access points: Milford Beach and Kittatinny Point, as part of government sequestration budget cuts.

Livery owners say the closures will hurt their businesses and eliminate shorter river rides. They urged Donahue to find another way to save money.

"There's a lot of waste in this park," said Dave Jones, co-owner of Kittatinny Canoes said.

Donahue disagreed.

Then, someone brought up the million-dollar toilet. Donahue correctly pointed out it didn't really cost a million dollars.

They were talking about the comfort station built in 1995 and 1996 at Raymondskill Falls. It is a glorified outhouse, with two pit toilets and no running water that must be closed in the winter.

It cost $377,000 and drew national attention as an example of government waste at the time.

The park service has defended it in the past, saying it was architecturally designed for beauty and durability.

But there is no excuse for that kind of waste.

Donahue was not superintendent when the royal flush (or no flush in this case) was built, but people have a long memory for wasteful spending. And they are looking for evidence of more waste now.

Why remove street signs with metal posts and install new signs with wooden posts and slightly larger letters? The park service is in the middle of that $400,000 project right now.

That's about the same sum the park had to trim to meet the sequester guidelines.

Donahue explained that the sign work money came from the Federal Highway Administration and can only be used for the project for which it was earmarked.

The project funds are completely different than the park's operating budget. If you see a road being paved or a roof being repaired, it may be from another program.

Last year the park reopened Route 209 after a 13-month closure, because a portion of the road dropped six inches. The fix required a 500-foot retaining wall below the road with 120 large earthen anchors to hold it in place.

The cost: $4.3 million, not from the operating budget but from the Federal Highway Administration.

No matter what agency grants the money, it all comes from the same place: taxpayers who don't get grants to supplement their annual income.

Some career government workers need constant reminders that businesses and citizens pay for everything they have, from the pretty pooper in the woods to the gas in their government vehicles.

Continue to waste money and crush businesses and you may find yourself up a creek — or worse, working in the private sector.